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Spanish Question (with Expanded Politesse)

From:laokou <laokou@...>
Date:Monday, January 14, 2002, 10:09
Okay, now in French, you can express "use the 'tu' form" as "tutoyer" and
"use the 'vous' form" as "vouvoyer". German has corresponding forms, "duzen"
and "siezen". So I ask the Spanish teacher at my school (non-native) if
Spanish has equivalent forms; she says "no". I'm not convinced. I look it up
here at home and find "tutear".

And so, is there a Spanish word for "use the 'Vd.' form"? Is there a word
for "use the 'vosotros' form"? In German, is there a word for "use the 'ihr'
form" ('ihren')?

One gets the sense that the distinction is formal/informal as opposed to
sing/pl (since we're chronicling the transition from "acquaintance" to
"friend', so it wouldn't surprise me if verbs for "vosotros" and "ihr"
didn't exist. Still, back in the day, we heard that if an elder said to a
junior, "Let's duzen." (much like if the mother-in-law you addressed as
'Mrs. Smith' told you to call her 'Francine') , you went out and celebrated
it with a drink (perhaps passé).

Immediate question: does Spanish have that "Vd" form? How do other langs on
the Continent treat this? How do conlangs cope?

Kou

Replies

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Pablo David Flores <pablo-flores@...>
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